1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of safety and particularly concerns antitampering seals and tooling for their application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Often, one or more than one safety seals are necessary in order to prevent the tampering of particular elements such as doors, equipment and plants, plugboards, junction boxes, machinery, containers and the like.
To seal meters and plants, a lead seal is generally used which includes a plated metallic wire which is inserted into holes of the parts to be sealed and its ends are inserted in a hole of a lead disk. Thereafter, the lead disk is pressed and strained by special pliers so that the walls of the hole of the lead disk grasp the metallic wire thereby preventing its withdrawal.
The lead seal is efficient if only some holes for the metallic wire are present or can be made on the walls to be sealed. Sealing by sealing wax allows even smooth parts which are without holes or which cannot be drilled to be sealed. As a matter of fact, the sealing wax adheres and conforms to the various parts, penetrates the fissures and becomes attached to the surfaces. Sealing by sealing wax is, therefore, functional but has some drawbacks.
It is necessary to melt the right quantity of sealing wax on walls to be sealed using a free flame or another heat source. In case of vertical or very sloping surfaces, it is hard to melt and dispense the sealing wax. When the melted sealing wax has started to harden, but is still malleable, it is punched by means of a metallic mark.
Until now, to apply a seal of sealing wax, the following articles are necessary; a sealing wax stick, a flame, a knife for removing the possible burr, and a punch to mark the applied sealing wax. Moreover, each step of this process implies a considerable manual skill, ability and it takes time.
In order to eliminate the above cited drawbacks, a new sealing gun has been designed and carried out which can automatically seal, by means of sealing wax, every kind of surface. The new gun maintains the sealing wax liquid, measures out a specific quantity of sealing wax and then sprays the sealing wax on the parts to be sealed and punches the wax with a mark. The new sealing gun includes a handgrip, a tank-melting-pot for the sealing wax, a feeding device, an injector, and a punch. All the various parts are mounted on the handgrip so as to make use of the new sealing gun comfortable.